Pet Safety for your Yard

Your yard and gardens are wonderful for relaxing, playing and entertaining however they can also be dangerous for our pets. Stated by Christina Selter the Pet Safety Lady, ”protecting our pets from potential hazards in our yards is of the utmost importance”

Statistics shows that tens of thousands of calls each year involving animal companions who’ve had potentially hazardous contact with insecticides, weed killers and pet-toxic plants. 


Top Yard Pet Safety Tips from Pet Safety Lady:


When designing and planting your yard, it's a good idea to keep in mind that many popular outdoor plants are Poisonous: Sago Palm, Azalea and Rhododendron are toxic to dogs and cats. Sago Palm and other members of the Cycad family as well as Mushrooms can cause liver failure, while rhododendron, lily of the valley, oleander, azalea, rosebay, kalanchoe and foxglove all affect the heart.

Keep your pets out of other yards if you're not sure what kinds of plants or flowers they have. Keeping your pet off the lawn that you are not familiar with including parks and other public yard areas will help keep your pets happy and healthy.

Insecticides
 are NOT meant for four-legged consumption and always store pesticides in inaccessible areas from pets and children. Make sure to read the manufacturer's label carefully for proper usage and storage. Some fertilizer, herbicides, granules, sprays and insecticide baits may be needed to keep our yards healthy, but the ingredients are NOT good for our pets and children. The most dangerous forms of pesticides include snail bait with metaldehyde, systemic insecticides which contain disyston or disulfoton, fly bait with methomyl, mole or gopher bait with zinc phosphide and most forms of rat poisons.

As for Fertilizer
 or plant food these help to keep our yards healthy and green can cause destruction on your pets digestive tracts. Make sure to follow instructions carefully and follow the appropriate waiting period before letting your pet run wild outside. Pets that ingest large amounts of fertilizer can cause stomach upset and may result in life-threatening gastrointestinal obstruction.

Food and garden waste or also called Compost
 make excellent additions to garden soil, but depending on what you're putting into your compost, some foods can create problems for your pets. Coffee, moldy food and certain types of fruit and vegetables including some stems, leaves and seeds are toxic to your dogs and cats.

Like chocolate, Cocoa Mulch
 can pose problems for our pets it is a by-product of chocolate production and is used in landscaping. Pets love its sweet smell and depending on the amount ingestion it can cause a range of sickness, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle tremors even elevate their heart rate, hyperactivity and seizures. Try using other alternatives, such as cedar, shredded pine or hemlock bark and always read and follow all instructions plus supervise your pets in the yard.


You should properly store all Garden Tools in a safe area, not randomly on the ground. They seem like no big deal, but rakes, tillers, hoes and trowels can be hazardous to pets and children. Injuries to eyes, paws or even noses plus rusty, sharp tools also create a danger for tetanus if your pet was to puncture their skin.

Fleas and Ticks
 lie in wait tall brush and grass in your yard so it is important to keep lawns mowed and trim. Fleas cause scratching, possible hair loss, tapeworms, scabs, hot spots and anemia from blood loss in both dogs and cats. Now Ticks can cause similar problems that lead to a multiplicity of complications from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease and Babesia.